Written By: Lynwood Albert Jr. BR Weekly Press Sports
BATON ROUGE, La – Southern may have won the coin toss but LSU definitely won the game.
A tiger is known for its power and strength and that’s exactly what the LSU Tigers displayed Saturday night in a ferocious 65-17 victory against the Southern University Jaguars in Tiger Stadium.
Southern fumbled the opening kickoff, so the LSU offense got off to a fast start with quarterback Jayden Daniels rushing for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Tigers a quick 7-0 lead over Southern.
That was just the beginning of a long night for the Jaguars who were overpowered and outmatched.
The ground game continued on LSU's next possession, with running back Josh Williams rushing it in from 5 yards out to double the lead, 14-0.
The brutal scoring attack was far from over with 7:16 remaining in the first quarter Daniels hit wide receiver Jack Bech in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to increase the Tiger’s lead to 21-0.
In the very next play from scrimmage, Micah Baskerville intercepted Southern’s quarterback BeSean McCray’s pass for a pick six. LSU leads 28-0.
The Tigers offense added more points to their score when Daniels threw a 5-yard pass to wide receiver Malik Nabers making the score 35-0. LSU added two more points on the scoreboard when Baskerville blocked Robens Beauplan’s punt that went out of the back of the end zone which resulted in a safety, therefore making the score 37-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter got off to a fast start just like the first. In just 40 seconds, Daniels hit wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. with a 44-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead to 44-0.
Running back Noah Cain rushed for a 2-yard touchdown which gave LSU a 51-0 halftime lead.
Daniels went 10-for-11 for 137 yards and three touchdowns in just over a quarter of play.
In the middle of the third quarter running back Armoni Goodwin scored a touchdown to advance the score to 58-0.
Southern scored for the first time with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter when LSU’s backup quarterback Garrett Nussmeier threw an interception that was returned by Benny McCray for a 94-yard touchdown, making the score 58-7.
With 14:01 left in the game, LSU scored its ninth and final touchdown when Goodwin rushed for a one yard touchdown.
Karl Ligon scored Southern’s second and final touchdown with 8:45 remaining in the fourth quarter to make the score 65-14.
Southern ended the game with a field goal by Luke Jackson to give them a total of 17 points.
LSU improved to 1-1 with the victory, while Southern dropped to 1-1 on the year. The Tigers return to Death Valley next Saturday to start conference play by playing host to Mississippi State.
Southern will travel to Houston, Texas next Saturday to play against SWAC rival Texas Southern, who with a current record of 0-2 will be seeking to get their first win of the season.